Movie · 1979
The Jerk
“A rags to riches to rags story.”
Released 14 December 1979 94 min Comedy More from 1979 → Letterboxd ↗ · TMDB ↗
After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson sets off on a hilarious misadventure that takes him from rags to riches and back again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.
FR·01
How old were they?
Maurice Evans
as Hobart
Sonny Terry
as Blues Singer
Richard Ward
as Father
Bill Macy
as Stan Fox
Dick O'Neill
as Frosty
Helena Carroll
as Hester
Jackie Mason
as Harry Hartounian
Gene LeBell
as Con Man
Mabel King
as Mother
Dick Anthony Williams
as Taj
M. Emmet Walsh
as Madman
Carl Gottlieb
as Iron Balls McGinty
Howard Hesseman
as Carnival Worker (uncredited)
Pepe Serna
as Punk #1
Steve Martin
as Navin R. Johnson
Gailard Sartain
as Guy with Cracked Airplane Seats (uncredited)
Bernadette Peters
as Marie Kimble Johnson
Catlin Adams
as Patty Bernstein
Ren Woods
as Elvira
FR·02
The numbers
57years between the oldest and youngest billed
78Maurice Evans — oldest on the call sheet
21Ren Woods — youngest billed
46average age of the credited cast